Judge Jake Looney

Judge Jake Looney, Circuit Judge for the 18^th West Judicial Circuit (Polk and Montgomery Counties) is a candidate for election to the Arkansas Court of Appeals, District 4, Position 1 in the May 2012 Non-partisan Judicial Election. District 4 consists of fifteen counties in Southwest and Western Arkansas.

Judge Looney is in his second term as Circuit Judge and as the only judge in the circuit handles all Criminal, Civil, Family, Juvenile and Probate cases. Prior to his election he taught law for twenty years at the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville where he was founding director of the Graduate Program in Agricultural Law and served for eight years as Dean of the School of Law. He previously taught at the undergraduate level for seven years and in secondary schools for three.  Previous legal experience includes the practice of law in Mena and service as Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Polk and Little River counties.

During his academic career Judge Looney taught a wide range of law courses including Agricultural Law, Water Law, Environmental Law, Contracts, Sales, Comparative Law and International Law. He published six books and over 150 articles in legal journals and other outlets.

 He is a former President of the American Agricultural Law Association; served as a Special Assistant Attorney General to advise the Arkansas Water Code Study Commission and on the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission. He is a member of the American Judges Association, the American Council of Family and Juvenile Court Judges and is on the faculty of the National Judicial College.

Judge Looney graduated from Mena High School and attended Southern Arkansas University and then the University of Arkansas where he received the B.S.A. degree in Agriculture. He holds two M.S. degrees from the University of Missouri, one in Animal Science and one in Agricultural Economics. His law degree is from the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he was a member of the law review.  A strong advocate of life long education, Judge Looney more recently completed a M.A. degree in History at  the University of Arkansas and a M.J.S. in Judicial Studies at the University of Nevada-Reno in conjunction with the National Judicial College. He is currently a candidate for the PhD in Judicial Studies at UNR and will complete all degree requirements next year.

He and his wife of 47 years, Era, own and operate Shadowridge Ranch, a commercial cattle operation in Polk County and raise, for fun, spotted donkeys. They have one son, Jason, who works for Comprehensive Juvenile Services.

Note: Article provided by campaign to elect Judge Jake Looney.